I haven't played very much of Final Fantasy XI recently. I got a bit burned out on it, and started spending my time elsewhere. The games I have played in the last few months include:
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- Final Fantasy XII
- Final Fantasy XIII
- Dragon Quest IX
As of this writing, I have beaten all of the above except for Final Fantasy XIII. I finished Dragon Quest IX finally a week or two ago.
Most of my video game time recently has been spent with The Legend of Zelda series. I figure that out of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest, Zelda will take the least amount of time to explore as fully as I would like to. My recent efforts include trying to get 100% completion in Wind Waker (not resorting to a guide, if possible), replaying Minish Cap, which I had rushed through years ago prior to playing Twilight Princess, and which I did not remember well, and playing through to the end of my several-year-old copy of Phantom Hourglass.
Playing through Wind Waker was, of course, amazing. It is easily one of the best Zelda games I have played. I had forgotten much in the 13 years or so since I had played it, but the game was no less epic than I thought I had remembered.
The only problem was that after I had completed what I felt like was a pretty thorough playthrough, I was still missing over ten pieces of heart and over half a dozen treasure charts, and had still not been able to figure out how to access the Nintendo gallery near the Forest Haven (meaning, I could get to the gallery, but couldn't figure out how to actually create the figurines--I couldn't figure out how to take color photographs). I didn't have the energy to search for so many missing things, so I put it on hold for a while.
That was a while ago. Since then, I have picked at it here and there. I found a few pieces of heart and treasure charts, but most importantly, I figured out the photos I needed to take to get the Deluxe Picto-Box and start taking color photos. It turned out that the Deluxe Picto-Box almost immediately helped me to get one treasure chart and one piece of heart (the treasure chart itself yielded an additional piece of heart). And then I got addicted to the figuring collection side quest and started playing quite a bit more.
Unfortunately again, after scouring the world and not finding enough figurines in certain areas, I was forced to conclude that there may be some figurines that are permanently missable--in other words, unavailable after a certain portion of the game is completed. For example, there is a character on Dragon Roost Island in the earlier stages of the game that disappears from the island later on, and as far as I can tell his figurine is unavailable at the end of the game.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to start the game over to see if I could capture some of my missing figurines. I just finished the Forbidden Woods and am going to do a quick once-over of each island in the sea to make sure there's no characters I don't remember that might disappear after getting the third pearl. I also intend to see if I can get figurines of Tetra's crew while they are on Windfall. I've been working on this bit by bit when I'm alone at home and don't have to share the TV.
During the early summer, I was working on the Oracle games. After I finished them, I learned about the Hero's Secret and how it was necessary for collecting all the rings. After a lot of time spent replaying the games again, I finally managed to get all of the rings except for the two GBA rings. Some day I'll get a working copy of Oracle of Ages (I have one of Seasons) and I'll use the password system to get the rings from those games.
After completing those, I jumped into Minish Cap. That was a delight. I did remember enjoying the game, but now I realize that it is one of the best 2-D Zelda games, nearly on the same level as A Link to the Past. It is very rewarding to play through. I just wish it were longer. But there's plenty of time to be spent trying to find all the secrets.
Unfortunately, after an exhaustive search, I was still missing two or three heart pieces and some amulet that is mentioned in game. I plan to start the game over and start documenting where I find treasures in hopes that it will help me find the rest. But I probably won't do that until I'm done doing that with Wind Waker.
The most recent Zelda game I played was Phantom Hourglass. That was another good experience. I had played it part way through when I first got it years ago. I even got probably about half way. I think it was around the same time that I was playing Skyward Sword and Final Fantasy XII. I didn't finish any of those games at that time, for reasons I've stated previously. It felt very good to finally complete the game. I found all of the heart containers, but I came up short on several spirit stones. It's another game I'll probably restart and document locations for treasure, to help me focus my search better. I might pick away at trying to get ship parts, but right now I'm taking a break from it.
That about catches me up on Zelda. I plan to write more later about Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
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